


I Got You

by jaded_jane



Series: What Could Have Been [2]
Category: Big Time Rush (Band)
Genre: M/M, Memories, Sadness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-03
Updated: 2016-12-03
Packaged: 2018-09-06 03:07:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8732404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaded_jane/pseuds/jaded_jane
Summary: James gets overwhelmed and takes a moment.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I have very specific thoughts about who _him_ is. It's not Logan, but can be read as such.

The stairs are the only place that don’t hold a memory of  _ him. _

James knows if he were to diligently peruse his recollection there probably would be something in which a staircase or two had a supporting role, but not the stairs in his house. Which is why James is here, now, fighting off thoughts he doesn’t need to remember because they’re never forgotten. They’re always in the forefront of his mind, unwilling to leave.

He finds himself in this spot a lot lately. The varnish on the step is beginning to wear away from the way James’ pants harshly scrape at it and the paint near the base of the wall of the opposite side is scuffing from his footwear. James places his right foot over the most prominent mark while willing his brain to give him some peace. 

It doesn’t work and he feels his eyes moisten. James tilts his head upward, stubbornly fighting the urge to drown in the melancholy that’s never far off when he feels something cold press against his right forearm. 

As he lowers his gaze, James watches Fox cross the step beneath the one he’s on, sitting down next to James’ feet. It startles James to realize that he had been preparing Fox for a walk when his need to hide from the past overwhelmed him, if Fox’s halter is anything to go by.  

He reaches for the dog, silently apologizing for failing his faithful companion, fingers ready to scratch Fox’s chin. Fox stays James’ hand by placing his paw at the tips of James’ fingers. The dog’s ears dip back towards his head, but James’ swears he sees compassion in Fox’s eyes. 

“I miss him,” he tells the Alaskan Klee Kai. 

Fox’s expression changes minutely, seeming to say, “I know, and I got you, Dad,” before he turns, hopping over James’ feet to charge up the staircase. 

James stands, stretching his slightly cramped legs before he climbs the stairs and joins the dog at the front door. He grabs the leash off a hook by the door and kneels to clip it to the tiny dog’s harness. “Thank you for being there for me,” he whispers to Fox as he attaches the leash and follows it by dropping a kiss to the dog’s head. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”


End file.
